The Huskies’ 111-game winning streak came to an end in the Women’s Final Four against Mississippi State in overtime. Only three of the team’s 111 wins during the streak were by fewer than 10 points.

UConn was flat out dominant and ruled the sport. It has since 2000.

But Mississippi State was not the ultimate winner, falling to South Carolina in the championship.

UConn is not going anywhere; it is still going to rule women’s basketball. South Carolina has a chance to be the much-needed rival that the sport needs. We learned all of this over the weekend.

If UConn’s loss taught us in the sports world anything this weekend, it is that nothing lasts forever.

Sidney Crosby and LeBron James are going to retire. The Patriots are going to have a losing season. UConn is going to lose.

We don’t fully appreciate the greatness that we are witnessing in sports until they are gone.

We knew Derek Jeter, David Ortiz and Mariano Rivera were going to retire, and gave them farewell tours. Kobe Bryant had a historic final game and went out in style.

But each of their retirements still left a gaping hole in their team and in their sport that are hard to replace.

When legends retire, pass away, or lose, it comes as a shock.

Very few expected UConn to lost Saturday against Mississippi State. It came as a shock. The streak is over.

But we got to experience history and watch greatness unfold before our eyes. The word “great” is overused, but UConn was truly great. LeBron James is truly great. Sidney Crosby is truly great.

We have to better appreciate the great athletes and teams that we are watching play every day before it is too late.

UConn had a phenomenal run, and surely will start winning again as soon as next year begins. But its loss reminded us to slow down and appreciate the things we have now before they are gone, retired or over.

It's officially the best time of the year. The last few weeks of March and the month of April are full of excitement in the world of sports. As an avid sports fan, I can honestly say there's no other time like it in the year. Why?

Well, for starters, you have March Madness with the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The name lives up to the hype and this is about as crazy of a tournament as you can get. After thrilling upsets and broken brackets (R.I.P. Duke), at this point the tournament is down to its final four teams: South Carolina, Gonzaga, Oregon, and North Carolina. It's especially exciting this year because for two of the teams, Gonzaga and South Carolina, this is their first final four appearance in school history. Not to mention Oregon has not been there since 1939. Then there's North Carolina, and we all know their winning ways. The Final Four games will be played on April 1, just one day shy of the other reason this is the best time of the year.

Opening Day of the 2017 MLB regular season is the very next day, April 2. Sunday will feature three games to open up the season with the New York Yankees facing the Tampa Bay Rays at 1:10 p.m., the San Francisco Giants going up against the Arizona Diamondbacks at 4:10 p.m., and then opening night will feature a match-up between division rivals the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. Our hometown Pittsburgh Pirates have had a great spring training, something unusual for them, and I cannot wait to see what will come of them in the regular season. The Pirates open up away on Monday against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park at 2:05 p.m. They will be back in town on Friday, April 7th, to bring their season to the thousands of fans at PNC Park. Let's go Bucs!

And while baseball is starting, hockey is ending but also entering its most exciting time of the year. It's just about time for NHL Playoffs, which begin in mid-April. Many can argue the Stanley Cup is one of the hardest championships to win in all of sports and like always, this year's playoffs should feature some thrilling match-ups. After tonight's Wednesday Night Rivalry game against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Pittsburgh Penguins have just six games left in the regular season. Currently, the Pens have clinched a playoff spot and sit in third place in the Metropolitan division, five points behind the Washington Capitals and two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets. Let the Penguins' quest for another Stanley Cup begin.

So you got March Madness, MLB season openers, NHL playoffs, not to mention the NBA season coming to a close, happening all at once. The only thing you are missing is a little football - oh wait, the NFL draft is coming at the end of April. Now you have it all during the best time of the year in the world of sports.

As Spring Training is in full swing for all MLB Teams and Organizations, there was another baseball game going on that the rest of the world was tuning in to watch.

The World Baseball Classic championship game was played Wednesday, March 22nd. The appeal factor in this game? The two remaining teams were the United States of America and Puerto Rico. The two teams got to play at Dodger Stadium in California for the final matchup in front of 51,000 fans. The WBC is organized in a 4-pool manner. Teams that played in the tournament included Chinese Taipei, Israel, Korea, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Australia, China, Cuba, Japan, Canada, Columbia, Dominican Republic, USA, Italy, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.

Neither the United States nor Puerto Rico had ever won the WBC, but Puerto Rico finished as runner up in 2013 to the Dominican Republic. This was be the first time the U.S ever played in the Championship game.

The United States sent Blue Jays right-handed Marcus Stroman to the mound for his 3rd start in the 2017 WBC. While Puerto Rico started Mets right-hander Seth Lugo. The two teams faced one another in the second round of the WBC; Stroman and Lugo were both on the mound. The Puerto Ricans won the first match between the two teams.

As the game played out, the US came out on top. They defeated Puerto Rico by an 8-0 final score to win the 2017 World Baseball Classic championship. Stroman, the US’ pitching choice, was the star of the show. He had 6 no-hit innings.

Previously, team USA’s best finish had come in 2009 when the team finished third place overall. Early in this WBC’s play, the US seemed as if they were going to have another disappointing year. However, that was not the case this year. With stars on their team like Marcus Stroman and Ian Kinsler the team was able to come out on top.

The World Baseball Classic is an interesting tournament that brings baseball fans from all over together. In the midst of crazy, never ending spring training, fans still turn their attention to this can’t miss event. It showcases the best players from all over and allows for some interesting match ups. It’s definitely interesting to see that a lot of MLB players really come from all over.

Monday was another great night for the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team. They continued their winning streak after defeating South Florida in the American Athletic Conference tournament championship game, but their win was not the top story of the night.

Sophomore Katie Lou Samuelson stole the spotlight when she went 10 for 10 from beyond the 3-point line. The best part of this story is that Samuelson achieved this record in just three quarters. Samuelson broke a NCAA record for women’s basketball and tied the over all NCAA record with Andre Smith, who was once the only one to shoot 10 for 10 in D-1 basketball history. This record is something that has never been achieved in the NBA. Both Ben Gordon and Letrell Sprewell came close to breaking this record, but fell short by only scoring 9 out of the 10 shots.

Videos are streaming the internet of Samuelson doing the legendary Micheal Jordan shrug after her sixth 3-pointer. The shrug was originally done by Jordan in the 1992 finals after his sixth consecutive 3-pointer in the first half of the game. It was perfect timing for Samuelson to pull out the shrug, especially because she is on the right track to being one of the most well-known collegiate athletes.

The huskies find out who they play in the NCAA tournament on Monday.

]]>Tue, 21 Feb 2017 15:46:30 GMThttp://pghcenterforsports.weebly.com/student-blog/study-shows-tennis-can-increase-life-span-among-adultsBy: Rebekah Mohrmann​A recent study by the British Journal of Sports has revealed a list of exercises and sports that increase your life span, and racquet sports were ranked the highest on the list. Tennis topped the list, with the potential to lower your risk of death from heart disease and stroke by 56 percent.The large-scale study included 80,306 adults from England and Scotland, all 30 years or older, with an average age of 52 years old. Participants were quizzed on their health and exercise through national surveys conducted at different points between 1994 and 2008. Every adult was quizzed about what type of physical activity they had done in the preceding 4 weeks along with the how frequently they exercised and the intensity and duration of their workouts.

The survival of the patients was surveyed on an average of nine years later. Out of all the participants, 8,790 had died, with 1,909 deaths due to cardiovascular disease. The results of the study revealed that only 44% of the participants met the national guidelines for the recommended 150 minutes of exercise every week.

The researchers then compared the risk of death among those who took part in a sport to those who did not participate in that particular activity, taking into account factors such as age, sex, whether they smoked, BMI, other exercise and education.

By the end of the study risk of death was 47 percent lower among those who played racquet sports, 28 percent lower among swimmers, 27 percent lower among aerobics fans, and 15 percent lower among cyclists. In contrast, running and football had little to no effect on life span, although this could be due to the nature of the study.

When looking at just the risk of death from cardiovascular disease they found that swimming reduced the risk by 41 percent, racket sports by 56 percent and aerobics by 36 percent. Running, cycling and football showed no significant statistical effect.

Despite this, Charlie Foster, co-author of the study from the University of Oxford, says that those who enjoy running or playing football should not give up the activity just yet. “We are 100% certain that we know participation in these sports is good for you, that is very clear, but what we haven’t seen yet is how well those benefits translate over the long-term into preventing death” said Foster. He points out that there are many factors that could be behind the little significance shown in the study regarding these sports.

Based on the study researchers have concluded: “These findings demonstrate that participation in specific sports may have significant benefits for public health,” adding that they should help health professionals promote people getting involved in regular sports as good way of staying healthy. Melissa Leber MD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopedics, at Mount Sinai says “There is a huge increase in doing interval training in gyms and structured workouts but fundamentally, playing tennis is like doing intervals — you’re sprinting and pivoting and giving big, short bursts of energy.”

​In fact, playing tennis for just an hour burns up to 600 calories and engages every one of your muscles. So next time you plan to hit the gym, pick up a racquet instead!]]>Mon, 20 Feb 2017 20:36:34 GMThttp://pghcenterforsports.weebly.com/student-blog/the-q

Thanks to Point Park University and the Pittsburgh Center for Sports Media and Marketing, I had the opportunity of attending a behind-the-scenes tour of Quicken Loans Arena this past Wednesday. Myself, and several other University students met with Group Event Specialist Mark Mazzagatti, who gave us the VIP treatment.

First, we saw the control room where Q TV--the Production team which creates all in-game audiovisual for the Cavaliers, Monsters, and Gladiators--conducts their business. Each element to their production has an inherent quality that is only enhanced by the colossal jumbo-tron that the "Q" is recognized for (the pyro during pre-game intros was amazing!). The work that their team does is truly world-class.

After, Mr. Mazzagatti showed us the Cavaliers’ front office. Surprisingly, the main offices are all organized with an open concept design, made to have everyone work together as a team. Every morning starts with “pump up” music, and television screens are used throughout the Sales staff department to display critical numbers such as total revenue, retention, group sales, and so on. The fun corporate culture was contagious. He then proceeded to show us a working model of Quicken Loans Arena's expansion, plus one of the premium suiteholder spots (to see Lebron James warm-up!).

Our last visit prior to the game was with Point Park University alumnus Fred McLeod. Meeting him again (as I can recall attending his presentation last fall) was a treat. He has been in the industry for so long, and yet no day ever feels like work for him. He offered us all great advice on working in the sports business: it’s all about passion. ​Going on trips like these for which the Center provides is the perfect chance to network with sports professionals from other cities, as well as see how other venues and facilities operate. I can’t thank them and the school enough for an educational and exciting visit to Cleveland.

​ The NHL, in it’s 100th year of the existence with over 7,500 players in its time, only 86 people in the entire league have been able to reach the 1,000 point milestone and Sidney Crosby is one of them. Thursday night (2/16) vs. the Winnipeg Jets, Crosby only needed one more point to reach this incredible number as an elite player. Sid battled hard for the puck against their captain Blake Wheeler and was able to stay with it and get it over to Chris Kunitz in front of the net to shoot it in. With everyone in the arena paying close attention to Sid, the crowd roared in a standing ovation for him. Soon after a tribute video to Crosby was put on the jumbotron showcasing all of his incredible milestone goals and assists to get to this point. To get to this milestone a little help is needed along the way, Crosby got to 1,000 points with help from 110 different players on the team since his entry into the league in 2005. He ended the night with three points, leaving him with 1,002 points total. He became the 11th youngest player to hit this and the youngest active player to get 1,000 points within 757 games. Despite all of Sidney Crosby’s concussions and set backs, he has continued to light the lamp and rack up points year after year in the NHL.

Congratulations Sidney Crosby on 1,000 NHL points and here is to 1,000 more!!

Antonio Brown got himself into some hot water a couple weeks ago after Facebook live-streaming from the locker room after the Steelers' game versus the Kansas City Chiefs, that sent them to the AFC Championship. In the video, Head Coach Mike Tomlin can be heard calling their AFC Championship opponents a profane word. And while many Pittsburgh fans may not necessarily disagree with that word being associated with the Patriots, it was definitely not something Brown should have been streaming. This incident was a clear violation of the NFL's social media policy. Tomlin, in some very understandable anger said, “It was foolish of him to do that. It was selfish for him to do that, and it was inconsiderate of him to do that." Brown ended up paying a $10,000 fine to the Steelers for this incident, as well as issued multiple public apologies.

Everyone chalked this up as normal, idiot AB social media antics. However, it later emerged that this act may have stemmed from a six-figure deal Brown had with Facebook. Not a lot is clear about the deal itself, because Facebook wasn't too talkative about the situation. But it brings up an interesting point, and some questions I just have myself.

Where do you draw the line? I personally wouldn't do that to my coach and teammates even if I had a deal. It's not like Brown isn't making any money.....but if there was a deal in place, I'd be curious to know more details about the requirements of that deal. Was he just encouraged? Was there a clause somewhere in there about having to live stream a certain amount per week? What was Facebook asking of him? Was AB's agent involved with this deal at all or did he just go ahead and do it? Because if there was a clause about streaming requirements, it doesn't seem apparent that anyone discussed what to do/not do, the NFL's social media policy, or just basic common sense. Did he just not care? Where do you draw that line? If you're getting six-figures from a deal, does pissing off some pretty important people in your organization cross too big of a line?

It's just interesting when you think more in depth about it. I love Antonio Brown. I think he's an incredible athlete and a great asset to the Pittsburgh Steelers' organization. However, this was a doofus move man. Be smarter than your phone. I hope he truly learns from this.

Back in December towards the end of the NFL regular season, Hall-Of- Fame Quarterback and Pittsburgh Steeler great Terry Bradshaw spoke out publically about how he thinks current Steeler Head Coach Mike Tomlin is a great cheerleader but not a great coach at all. He continued to say he doesn't even consider him when thinking about great coaches in the NFL. Bradshaw quickly took back his words and said he meant to call Tomlin a "great" motivator.

Now Bradshaw comments brought up a great debate if Tomlin was actually a good coach or a product of what he "inherited". Tomlin became the Head Coach of the Steelers back in 2007 after serving one year as defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings. Bill Cowher had resigned as head coach to spend more time with his family was just a year removed from the Super Bowl.

Tomlin quickly became a household name around the NFL for his youthfulness, swagger, sunglass, and attitude. Which eventually lead him to win Super Bowl 43 and was a drive short of winning Super Bowl 45. But the argument always is that Tomlin who that Super Bowl with Cowher's players and coaches. Only 23 players were on both Super Bowl teams and the coaching staffs did change.

Tomlin and Cowher have a similar track record just based off of their first 10 season in the NFL. Both have made the playoffs 7 out of 10 of those years. Both appeared in a Super Bowl, granted Tomlin won his and Cowher didn't. But here is where Tomlin being considered the best can benefit him. Tomlin won his first Super Bowl he appeared in and went to another. Tomlin also won 8 playoff games in his first 10 season to Cowher's 6 that he won in his first 10 seasons. Tomlin also has not once had a losing season while Cowher had 3 losing seasons.

Also when you consider other coaches in the league besides Bill Belichick who is no doubt the best coach in NFL the question becomes who is 2nd. Based off of Super Bowl Appearances it would be between Tomlin and Pete Carroll of Seattle. If you base it off what players would prefer a lot have said that they would love to play for Mike Tomlin. Tomlin is no doubt a top 5 coach but the argument could be made that he is a top 2 or 3 NFL coach.

Think about it like this if the Steelers did fire him (which they won't) how long will he be looking for a job? Or better yet how much would a team improve if Tomlin was their coach besides for New England? If my team picked him up I would guarantee we would have at least 9 wins. But that is how good he is. He has the potential to be even bigger than what he already is and the scary thing is he is only 44.

I was hoping that the Steelers would win the Super Bowl this year just so Tomlin could stare Bradshaw in the eye and say something about how he is a big cheerleader for the Steelers.

While being a sophomore in college you are continually questioned of your capability. Many tend to say you have plenty of time to still truly become something. During my time here at Point Park I continually immerse myself in all opportunities readily available. I am heavily involved with our campus station U-View, which goes on to cover all ends of the spectrum in Point Park news, regional, national, and international coverage ranging from entertainment, to sports, and so on.

Being a broadcasting student here you are told again and again to get involved because our advisors and professors know how hard it can really be out there. Being involved with this has taught me to truly appreciate all that goes into a well-done production. Everything aspires to be live because that’s how it is. There’s no redo’s if you mess up. This goes especially for sports. If you mess something up during a live broadcast, there’s nothing you can do to fix that because it’s live.

Campus media has made me truly appreciate sports on all levels. You wouldn’t think that our university athletics isn’t that dynamic, but it truly is. Being part of the now River States Conference helps make Point Park recognized as a University at a national, but also international scale. And that’s really cool to witness. I’ve assisted peers in live broadcasts for our very own Point Park Sports Network in which we do get live footage of campus sports while also doing play-by-play and color commentary. It really is something else to be part of this. It shows you how dedicated students are to the game. It teaches a whole new sense of discipline and teamwork, something you can’t just learn anywhere.

Although I have not had any internships yet, I see the necessary attributes one must have in order to truly grow and develop. These attributes are very similar to what you may obtain while being part of any team or club, no matter what the scale. You must find the balance between being a leader and a good team member, while being able to truly be creative and innovative and bring more to that franchise. You also must be willing to put the time in, in order to be truly recognized. Just like if you were on any sports team, if you aspire to get better, you show up before practice and stay after in order to perfect that jump shot or work on that left-handed dribble. For internships, you have to be willing to stay after hours to get work done, even if you aren’t getting paid for it. This shows how dedicated you are to the company but also whatever message they hope to send out to the world.

You also have to be willing to handle and tackle any task under pressure. Deadlines are everything and this is especially relevant to sports. Every game has a start time. If everything isn’t prepped on time, not only you but your whole team of co-workers will look bad. Just like hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer, you must be confident in your abilities to make your workplace a better place. ]]>